December 16, 2008

Turner Gill Not Interested in Iowa State

Turner Gill, thought to be Iowa State's No. 1 candidate for its coaching opening, has told the Cyclones he's not interested in the position.

Steve Mooney, Gill's agent, was interviewed Tuesday on the Marty and Miller Show on Des Moines station KXNO. Mooney said his client was not going to be Iowa State's coach and would remain at Buffalo. You can listen to the interview by clicking here.

Gill was a finalist at Auburn but the Tigers decided to hire Gene Chizik, which created the opening at Iowa State. The hiring of Chizik, who left Iowa State with a 10-game losing streak, has been universally criticized by Auburn fans.

ESPN's Mark Schlabach said two other Southeastern Conference coaches told him that Gill would never get the Auburn job because he's married to a white woman. Charles Barkley eariler ripped Auburn's hiring of Chizik over Gill.

Mooney suggested that Gill was simply tired of interview process after he was passed over for the Auburn and Syracuse jobs and decided to remain at Buffalo rather than get involved with Iowa State.

Syracuse decided to go with New Orleans Saints assistant Doug Marrone instead of Gill. That hire has also been criticized by Syracuse fans. One group started a Fire Doug Marrone site with hours of the hire.

There are only four African American head coaches in Division I-A: Gill, Randy Shannon of Miami, Kevin Sumlin of Houston and Mike Locksley of New Mexico, who was hired last week.